Harness release



March 6, 1951 J. H. SCHNEIDER HARNESS RELEASE Filed March 24, 1944 VINVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 6, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,544,399 HARNESSRELEASE John H. Schneider, Irwin, Pa., assignor to Mine SafetyAppliances Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of PennsylvaniaApplication March 24, 1944, Serial No. 528,003

'7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to harness for supporting articles on the humanbody, and more particularly to the means by which the harness straps aredetachably connected in'pace.

The air purifying canisters, oxygen bottles, breathing bags'and the'likewhich are connected to the face pieces of breathing apparatus aregenerally supported on the body of the wearer by means of harness in theform of straps crossing the shoulders and also extending around thewaist orunder the arms. Under ordinary circumstances there is nodifficulty in removing the harness from the body when the breathingapparatus is no longer needed. However, an emergency occasionally arisesin which a delay of a few seconds in removing the breathing apparatusmay be critical. Such a delay may result from having to unfastenbucklesor the like, or in having to pull the arms through the loops ofthe harness. There are also other cases in which it is desirable tosupport an article on the body by harness which can be quickly removed.An example is parachutes where it may be necessary to remove the harnessthe moment the jumper strikes the ground.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide body harness whichcan be removed almost instantaneously, which is securely retained on thebody at other times, which snugly and comfortably fits the body, andwhich does not require buckles-or other usual types of fasteners forholding it in place.

These and other objects are attainedby providing harness straps that areconnected at one end to the article being supported, with the other endsof the straps detachably connected to one another by means from whichquick separation is assured'upon the release of manualy releasablemeans. More specifically, the free ends of the straps preferably areloosely anchored between a pair of members one of which is movable awayfrom the other. Manually releasable means, such as a pin that can bepulled by a line attached to it, normally holds the two members inoperative position. When the pin is pul ed out of place, the two membersspread apart and thereby permit the straps to escape from them. Ifdesired, a spring may be used to positively force the two members apartwhen the pin is released. I

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig.l is a fragmentary view of a man wearing my harness; Fig. 2 is anenlarged rear view of the means by which the rear ends of the harness.straps are connected;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2; andFig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of a modified embodiment shown on asmaller scale than Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a man is shown wearing a facepieceI, such as a gas mask, that is connected by a breathing tube 2 toairpurifying apparatus 3 supported on his chest by harness straps 4. Thetwo upper straps cross the wearers shoulders, and the two lower onespass around his bod beneath his arms The front ends of these four strapsare secured to the breathing apparatus in any suitable manner, eitherpermanently or by means of buckles or snaps (not shown). The rear orfree ends of the straps are all located close together at the center ofthe upper part of the wearers back.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the rear ends of three of the straps carrymetal links 5 each having a narrow outer end provided with an opening 6through it. These openings fit loosely over outwardly tapered bosses Ipressed out of or otherwise formed on a circular back plate 8. Thisplate is permanently attached in any suitable manner to a leather disc 9having a radial projection sewed to the fourth strap. The leather discends of; the bosses.

rests fiat against the back of the wearer. To normally hold the links onthe bosses, a circular retaining plate I0 is disposed adjacent the outerThis front plate is provided withfa central opening through whichextends a post I I that is rigidly mounted at its inner end at thecenter of the back plate. The front plate is held in operative positionby a pin i2 slidably mounted in a transverse opening l3 through theouter end of the post. Connected to the upper end of this pin is a lineM, such as a cord or a small wire or cable, which extends upwardly alongone of the upper straps and over the adjacent shouder. This line isslidably connected to the strap in any suitable manner, and its frontend may be provided with a pull ring or the like (not shown). To preventthe pin from accid'entally working out of the post opening, the lowerend of the pin is provided with an annular groove in which a snap ring!5 is mounted.

It will be seen when it becomes desirable to quick y remove the harness,a pull on the front end of line I l will cause pin E2 to strike snapring [5 against post H. This will knock the ring from the pin so thatthe pin can be pulled out of the post to release front retaining plateIt). The outward pull of the straps radially of the back plate will thencause the links 5 to slip on the outer ends of the tapered bosses 1,because the front plate is no longer held in operative position by thepin. Therefore, three of the straps will separate from the connectingback plate and permit the harness to drop from the bod of the wearer.The back plate will remain fastened to the fourth strap so that it willnot become lost.

To prevent any tendency of the released front plate ID to bind on thepost and to thereby keep one or more of the straps from slipping offbosses I, post H may be encircled by a coil Spring I! compressed betweenthe two plates when they are together in operative position. The springis held in centered position by a socket formed in the central portionof the front plate, as shown in Fig. 3. When the pin is pulled from thepost, however, the spring immediately expands and pushes the front plateforward on the post so that links 5 can quickly leave the back plate.The front plate is prevented from being entirely separated from the postby means of a washer l8 rigidly mounted on the outer end of the post,such as by riveting over the post end.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4 a different type of retaining pin isdisclosed. This pin 20 has no snap ring for preventing it fromaccidentally working out of the post. Instead, the pin is formed from apiece of spring wire doubled upon itself and twisted at one end to forman eye 2| for attachment to the pull line l4. Both legs of the pinextend through the opening in the center post, and one leg is bent toprovide a hump 22 that prevents the pin from accidentally escaping fromthe post. When the pin is pulled, its two legs are sprung toward eachother sufficiently to permit them to pass through the post.

Although this invention has been described in connection with breathingapparatus, it will be understood that it is not restricted thereto, butis applicable to parachute harness and other cases. Also, the articlebeing supported may'be carried on the back with the strap connectingdevice resting against the chest.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained theprinciple and construction of my invention and have illustrated anddescribed what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However,I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appendedclaims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specificallyillustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A harness release for use with a plurality of harness straps adaptedto be connected to an article and having free ends, a pair of separableretaining members adapted to, receive said free ends between them, saidfree ends and one of said members being provided with registeringdetents and openings for normally retaining the straps between saidmembers, manually releasable means normally holding said memberstogether, and a spring norm-ally compressed between said retainingmembers for separating them when said holding means is released.

2. A harness release for use with a plurality of harness straps adaptedto be connected to an article and having free ends with openings therehh, a k pl a p st rigidly mounted at the center of said plate andprojecting therefrom, a front plate spaced from the back plate andprovided with a central opening for receiving said post which projectsthrough it, one of said plates being provided with projections extendingsubstantially across the space between the two plates and looselythrough the strap openings, manually releasable means normally connectedto the outer end of said post for holding said front plate adjacent theback plate, and a coil spring encircling said post and compressedbetween said plates for moving the front plate away from the back plateupon release of said means, whereby to release said straps from saidprojections.

3. A harness release for use with a plurality of harness straps adaptedto be connected to an article and having free ends, a pair of separableretaining members adapted to retain said free ends between them, a postprojecting from one of said members outwardly through an opening in theother member and provided outside of said other member with a transverseopening, a pin slidably mounted in said transverse opening for normallyholding said members together, a line connected to one end of the pinfor pulling the pin out of the post, the other end of the pin beingprovided with an annular groove, and a split spring washer mounted insaid groove and adapted to be forced therefrom by the post when saidline is pulled.

4. A harness release for use with a plurality of harness straps adaptedto be connected to an article having free ends, a pair of separableretaining members adapted to retain said free ends between them, a postprojecting from one of said members outwardly through an opening in theother member and provided outside of said other member with a transverseopening, a forked spring pin slidably mounted in said transverse openingwith the free end of one of its forks provided with a lateral projectionfor resisting withdrawal of the pin from said opening, and manuallyoperable means for withdrawing said pin from the post.

5. A harness release for use with a plurality of harness straps adaptedto be connected to an article and having free ends, a pair of separableretaining members adapted to retain said free ends between them, a postrigidly mounted on one of said members and projecting outwardly throughan opening in the other member, a coil spring encircling said postbetween said members for urging them apart, and manually releasablemeans connected to said post outside of said other member for normallyholding said members together.

6. A harness release for use with a plurality of harness straps adaptedto be connected to an article and having free ends, a pair of separableretaining members adapted to retain said free ends between them, a postrigidly mounted on one of said members and projecting outwardly throughan opening in the other member, stop means on the outer end of the postholding said other member thereon, means connected to said post betweensaid other member and said stop means for normally holding said memberstogether, and means for separating said holding means from said post topermit said members to separate.

'7. A harness release for use with a plurality of harness straps adaptedto be connected to an article and having free ends all but one of whichhas an opening therethrough, a back plate, a post rigid y mounted onsaid plate and pro ecting therefrom, a front plate spaced from said backplate and provided with an opening for slidably receiving said postwhich projects through it, one of said plates being provided withprojections extending substantially across REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Wigley et a1 Feb. 28, 1933Waite et a1 Aug. 29, 1939 Jahant Nov. 14, 1939 Lethern et a1 Sept. 9,1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Mar. 27, 1936 France May23, 1924 Germany Mar. 20, 1939

